Polestar 1 surprises nobody as it proves to be a hit on public debut

The Geneva reveal includes plans to introduce it in 18 markets with production already hitting its ceiling

Dinesh Appavu

7 Mar 2018

“To date, we have received interest from over 6,000 potential customers wanting the Polestar 1 – a number which began gathering momentum from the moment the car was revealed. With our current plans to produce 500 cars per year, it’s possible that we have exceeded our production potential in these early stages. This positive reception to Polestar 1 really encourages us that our ‘Pure, Progressive, Performance’ brand proposition resonates very well with customers,” said Thomas Ingenlath, chief executive officer of Polestar on its public debut at the Geneva Motor Show.

Surprising nobody, Polestar has garnered immense interest for its first vehicle and already looks to have exceeded its production capacity in the early stages of getting cars into customers driveways.

Further building on electromobility and removing the traditional hassle of vehicle ownership, Polestar is forming its customer experience around a new subscription model that is an evolution of traditional leasing.

Customers are able to subscribe to a Polestar vehicle for a period of two or three years with a monthly fee that encapsulates all ownership costs. The no-deposit, all-inclusive fee removes the fuss from ownership costs and allows the owner to focus on driving.

The monthly fee includes connected and on-demand services such as pick-up and delivery servicing; of which the servicing cost is factored in as well, and even insurance. Customers are able to outright purchase the car if they so desire.

Orders for the Polestar 1 will open on 13 March 2018 at 08:00 CET with a request for a fully-refundable deposit of 2,500 Euros. The deposit functions as a placeholder in the Polestar 1 queue as demand has already overwhelmed supply.

The pre-orders will be available in only six markets initially, that being Sweden, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, the United States and China. A further 12 markets will join the pre-orders simultaneously and these comprise Switzerland, the UK, Belgium, Finland, France, Poland, Austria, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Portugal and Canada.

“We will open pre-ordering of the Polestar 1 to eighteen markets which covers around 95 per cent of the geographical interest from potential Polestar 1 customers,” continued Ingenlath.

Following its Geneva reveal, the Polestar 1 will begin its world tour that takes it to some of its earmarked markets and for customers, potential subscribers and fans to see in the metal. Production is slated to begin in mid-2019. Construction of the new Polestar Production Centre in Chengdu, China is on track with tooling installations and pre-production set to begin towards the end of 2018.

“The beautiful new Polestar Production Centre in Chengdu will become our manufacturing hub and the centre of Polestar manufacturing operations,” said Jonathan Goodman, chief operations officer of Polestar. “With its Scandinavian design principles, expertly executed by Snøhetta of Norway, and its roots quite literally set in one of our main markets, the Polestar Production Centre not only serves as the birthplace of all Polestar 1 cars, but also a brand experience facility with a dedicated test track and other client-focused facilities which contribute to the world-class Polestar customer experience.”

As a recap, the Polestar 1 is an electric hybrid performance grand tourer coupe with a 2+2 seating configuration. It has 600hp and 1,000Nm of torque with an electric range of 150km, the longest of any hybrid car.

Much like the T8 Twin Engine layout in current Volvos, the Polestar 1 has a internal combustion petrol engine running the front wheels and dual electric motors running each rear wheel from a 34kWh battery.